Eight employees of FUJIFILM Manufacturing Europe B.V. will have a training in the United States, at FUJIFILM Irvine Scientific, and contribute to the production of cell culture media. Cell culture media are used in the production of vaccines and medicines. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, demand has become very high.
Last year Fujifilm announced to build a new production facility for cell culture media in Tilburg. The employees will have a on the job training, which will prepare them to work in the new plant in Tilburg.
Cell culture media are used in the biopharmaceutical industry and serve as food for the cells used to make drugs or vaccines. Currently there are production facilities in the United States and Japan. There was a need to expand with a third production facility in Europe and this is now being built on the site of Fujifilm Manufacturing Europe BV in Tilburg. The factory is expected to open its doors at the end of 2021.
Peter Struik, President Fujifilm Manufacturing Europe, explains:
"Our employees will go to the United States for seven weeks, where they will be trained in the field of production and batch release of cell culture media, and document control. In this way they will be well trained to be able to start working in the new factory. Because it is an on the job training, they also contribute directly to the production of cell culture media. This extra help is more than welcome because the COVID-19 pandemic has made the demand for cell culture media very high. So this is a win-win situation."
Over FUJIFILM in Tilburg
FUJIFILM Manufacturing Europe B.V. is based in Tilburg and is one of the major Fujifilm production facilities outside of Japan. The company has expertise in production, research and supply chain management.
Fujifilm produces photo paper, offset plates and membranes in Tilburg. A plant for cell culture media is under construction. On the site in Tilburg there is a Corporate Research Laboratory and an Open Innovation Hub. The Dutch part of the European headquarters is also located here. Fujifilm currently employs over 750 people in Tilburg.